Warner Music digital chief Oana Ruxandra outlined the major’s ambitions for monetising the metaverse for artists in a Music Week interview earlier this year.
Now the company is showing how international artists can secure major opportunities from huge platforms.
Warner Music France’s French-Malian superstar Aya Nakamura is the latest artist to feature in Fortnite’s popular Soundwave Series. The interactive music experience will kick off in the Fortnite universe from October 6t at 5pm BST and will run for three days.
Nakamura is the most listened-to Francophone singer in the world for the last four consecutive years running, racking up more than four billion views on YouTube in 2021. The partnership follows Nakamura’s global release of VIP, which came out last Friday.
Oana Ruxandra, chief digital officer & EVP business development, Warner Music Group, said: “At Warner Music Group, we believe that the future will bring with it hyper-reality metaverses that will be persistent, synchronous, and live. At the forefront of this future is our long-standing partner, Epic Games. As music becomes increasingly foundational to their vision and strategy, WMG is focused on building at-scale, interactive and dynamic experiences for communities that are led by visionary artists like Aya.”
Alain Veille, president, Warner Music France, said: “We’re so excited to announce our partnership with Epic Games and Aya. Through our strengthened partnership we were able to get a head start on learning Unreal Engine 5, to create an incredible digital version of Aya to feature in-game on October 6. Online experiences like these are so important, as they break down traditional boundaries, enabling different generations of music fans to come together in one place from all around the world.”
Aya Nakamura added: “The collaboration is an opportunity to perform my biggest show ever to fans old and new, and from all around the world. I can’t wait to share my music with you all and be the first French artist to feature in Fortnite!”
Her 2018 album Nakamura surpassed one million album sales worldwide, and more than four billion streams on Spotify, making it the most streamed French-language album of all time on Spotify.
In April, Balenciaga launched a playlist and merchandise partnership as part of a long-term agreement with Nakamura.
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